These settlements maintained a high degree of cultural uniformity through the long-distance exchange of ritual items, but were probably not politically unified.

Various styles of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines were hallmarks of the culture, as are the Vinča symbols, which some conjecture to be the earliest form of proto-writing.

[14][15][13] It is considered that alike the Neolithic-Chalcolithic Age "there is no evidence for any proto-urbanism nor specialised military, religious or administrative centres",[16] but their settlements did have defensive formations.

[19][20] However, the evidence is not conclusive,[20][22][23] and according to recent research "the earliest Vinča sites in the south seem to be as early as those in the north" and have lack of local continuity.

It is likely that, after two millennia of intensive farming, economic stresses caused by decreasing soil fertility were partly responsible for this decline.

[40] However, this "New Age sentiment" viewpoint was prevalent until 1990s when started to emerge evidences of violent massacres and defensively-enclosed fortified settlements in Neolithic period.

They practised a mixed subsistence economy where agriculture, animal husbandry and hunting and foraging all contributed to the diet of the growing Vinča population.

[42] Vinča agriculture introduced common wheat, oat and flax to temperate Europe, and made greater use of barley than the cultures of the FTN.

These innovations increased crop yields and allowed the manufacture of clothes made from plant textiles as well as animal products (i.e. leather and wool).

There is indirect evidence that Vinča farmers made use of the cattle-driven plough, which would have had a major effect on the amount of human labour required for agriculture as well as opening up new area of land for farming.

Cattle were more important than sheep and goats in Vinča herds and, in comparison to the cultures of the FTN, livestock was increasingly kept for milk, leather and as draft animals, rather than solely for meat.

The hunting of deer, boar and aurochs, fishing of carp and catfish, shell-collecting, fowling and foraging of wild cereals, forest fruits and nuts made up a significant part of the diet at some Vinča sites.

[41] Generally speaking craft production within the Vinča network was carried out at the household level; there is little evidence for individual economic specialisation.

[44] Copper ores were mined on a large scale at sites like Rudna Glava, but only a fraction were smelted and cast into metal artefacts – and these were ornaments and trinkets rather than functional tools, which continued to be made from chipped stone, bone and antler.